Page 37 of Color Me Broken
Tasha stood slowly, and Juelz stood too. He pulled her into a hug, holding her tighter than usual.
“I love ya, shorty,” he whispered in her ear. “I’ll be right here when you wake up.”
She nodded into his chest. “I love you too, Jue.”
And then she let go… walked away… heart thudding like it knew a piece of her wasn’t coming back.
Juelz was pacing the waiting room like somebody’s damn daddy. Back and forth, back and forth, jaw locked tight and fists flexing. Every time the automatic doors swung open, he looked up, hoping it was her, fearing it wasn’t.
When the nurse finally came out, he met her halfway.
“Damn, took long enough. She good?”
“She’s in recovery. A little groggy, but everything went smoothly. You can come back now.”
He was at her side within minutes. Tasha laid there, IV still taped to her arm, eyes barely open. She turned her head when she felt him close, giving him the weakest smile she could manage.
“I told you I was comin’ back to you,” she whispered.
He sat down next to the bed, easing the surgical cap back off her forehead. “You knew to come back. I hate to be like Ike in this bitch. ‘Damn it, you die on me, Anna Mae, I’ll kill ya. You hear me, bitch?”
Tasha let out a small laugh. “You so stupid. Don’t make me laugh, it hurts.”
She wanted to cry. He didn’t know she’d just had her ovary removed. Didn’t know that part of her body, part of her future, was gone. She’d let him believe it was a Hysterosalpingogram, some light test with cramping and dye, just enough to satisfy his questions without breaking his heart.
“You feelin’ okay?” he asked softly.
“Yeah,” she lied. “Just sore. Like they said. I’m good though.”
Juelz kissed the back of her hand, eyes never leaving hers. “You scared me. You play too cool sometimes, but I know you. You was shook this mornin’.”
“I wasn’t,” she said. Then a beat. “Okay… maybe a little.”
“Well, it’s finally over. Now off to more fuckin’.”
She smiled at that, but it didn't reach her eyes. He was talking about a future she’d just seen get cut in half. Every month from now on, she’d only be playing with half a deck, and he was still betting on a full house.
“Doc said I can leave in an hour,” she informed, eyes fluttering closed.
“That’s a bet,” he said, pulling the blanket up around her. “I’ll go grab your scripts. You want anythin’ else?”
Tasha gave the faintest shake of her head. “Just you.”
He paused, heart tightening at how small her voice sounded. “I’m here.”
Yeah. He was here. but under false pretenses. And as Tasha felt the ghost of a pain where her ovary used to be, she had no idea how long she could keep lying to the one person she never wanted to lie to.
Tasha wokeup to the sound of a cabinet slamming somewhere in the kitchen. Her eyes fluttered open, the room still dark from the blackout curtains covering the windows. She was in bed resting from the procedure she had earlier today. She tried to sit up but instantly regretted it. The pain from her incision weighed heavy on her, reminding her it was time for another round of pain meds. She exhaled, her eyes gazing toward her buzzing phone, then shifted to her clock on the nightstand, which read a little after two. Realizing it was her job calling, she answered with a tired, “Hello?”
“Hi, is Tasha Hayes available?” Her supervisor’s voice punched through the line.
“Yes…this is her.”
There was a pause, that fake corporate inhale people do before they ruin your whole damn day.
“I know that you are on leave right now, but I’m calling to inform you that, effective immediately, you are relieved of your duties here at Emerald City Hospital. We will need you to turn in your badge at your earliest convenience.”
Tasha sat up fast, forgetting about her stitches. “Wait—relieved? For what?”
